Oakland cook stars on NBC’s ‘Food Fighters’

Home chef Kena Peay will see if celeb chef Cat Cora can re-create her recipes on “Food Fighters.” (Eddy Chen/NBC)

Celebrity chef Cat Cora may be pretty impressive, but is she up to tonight’s task? She will have to re-create signature dishes designed by a top amateur chef from Oakland who has been cooking since she was 12.

For this second episode of NBC’s new show, “Food Fighters,” home cook Kena Peay brought a couple of recipe challenges: One is her fusion specialty, a combination of a shrimp po’ boy and a banh mi, her two favorite sandwiches. (Hmm, Cora hails from Mississippi, so that could be an interesting throwdown.)

The show airs at 8 p.m. Tuesday, July 29. Adam Richman of “Man vs. Food” is the host.

Peay received most of her training in the kitchen from her mother, grandmother and a family friend, and she showed a flair for cooking at a young age. She loves to cook French-themed meals and counts chefs Thomas Keller, Ina Garten and Gordon Ramsay as those who have inspired her style via their cookbooks, TV appearances and YouTube videos.

When she’s not eating her own fabulous cooking, you might find Peay in the East Bay at Tanya Holland’s Brown Sugar Kitchen (for the “best” waffles and chicken, she says); or at Boot and Shoe Service (“the pizza crust is light and crispy, and the tomato sauce has a bit of heat to it,” she says); or at Chez Panisse (she loves “everything” there).

Whether she wins or not on “Food Fighters,” Peay will treat herself. In August, she has reservations at Keller’s French Laundry. It will be her first time dining there.